Accelerate Michigan prepares for return to downtown Detroit

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The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is returning to downtown Detroit this fall, and the decision to do so was pretty easy.

The business plan competition is known for offering $1 million in prizes to promising tech startups that are either based in Michigan or looking to move to the Great Lakes State. The top prize each year is a check for $500,000, but organizers like to trumpet the access to executives, angel investors and venture capitalists that the competition provides. Last year's move to Detroit only accentuated that.

"We found that (downtown Detroit) was an incredibly successful draw for out-of-state investors," says Lauren Bigelow, executive director of the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. She adds that "there was an intrigue about coming to the city that they didn't find with Ann Arbor or Dearborn (previous locations for the event)."

The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition will host an opening gala in the Guardian Building on Nov. 12 and the actual business competition will be held at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel on Nov. 13-14. The winners will be announced at Orchestra Hall the evening of Nov. 14.

The deadline to apply to enter the competition is set for Aug. 14. The student section of the competition is set to close its admission window on Sept. 26. For information, click here.